This invention relates generally to an aspiration-type dispenser adapted to be connected to a source of pressurized carrier liquid, such as a garden hose, and further adapted to be coupled to a container of chemical liquid to be diluted upon aspiration.
Aspiration-type dispensers of the general type aforedescribed are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,383,603, 5,320,288 and 5,100,059. In each of these patents a cylindrical valve is disclosed for controlling the flow of the carrier liquid except that aspiration takes place generally downstream thereof thereby requiring an elongated and more complex structure which includes additional ducting and passageways. Also, parts and details required for these known sprayers add to the cost of manufacturing and assembly, which is undesirable. Moreover, the known aspiration-type sprayers are not user friendly and have limited features which have stimulated the need for many improvements.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a sprayer assembly for connection to a container of a liquid chemical to be diluted upon aspiration by a pressurized stream of carrier liquid, which has a minimum number of parts, is compact and economical yet highly efficient in aspirating the chemical liquid in a most convenient and user friendly manner.
Another object of this invention is to provide such an assembly which comprises a housing having a carrier liquid and chemical liquid inlet passages and a discharge passage. A rotatable valve located within the housing has a carrier liquid duct and an intersecting chemical liquid duct interconnecting the inlet passages in a first rotative position of the valve, and the inlet passage is closed by the valve in a second rotative position thereof.
Further object of the present invention is to provide such an assembly wherein the housing has couplings for connection to a source of the carrier liquid and to a container of the liquid chemical, the housing having an integral handle to be grasped by the user for holding the sprayer assembly when spraying, the handle extending outwardly from an upper wall of the housing and having a gripper bar for hand holding.
Another object is to provide such an assembly wherein a diverter is mounted downstream of the discharge end of the housing, the diverter having a wall sloping in one direction lying along the path of the discharge passage for deflecting the liquid flow from the discharge passage to effect a flat spray pattern in that one direction.
Another object is to provide an assembly with such a diverter in the form of a rotatable nozzle having a pair of spaced sloping walls lying in the path of the discharge passage upon nozzle rotation for selectively deflecting the liquid flow in one or another direction.
A still further object of this invention is to provide such a sprayer assembly wherein the housing has a support sleeve coaxial with its chemical inlet opening, a dip tube retainer being coupled to such sleeve, the retainer having a cylindrical wall for suspending the dip tube extending into the chemical container, and the retainer having a transverse wall with an inlet orifice coaxial with the chemical inlet opening, the orifice being of a predetermined size to effect a given chemical liquid-to-carrier liquid ratio.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an assembly wherein carrier liquid inlet and chemical liquid inlet passages extend into a cylindrical bore of the housing and the discharge passage extends from the bore which extends transversely to the passages, the cylindrical valve is rotatable within the bore about its central axis thereof between on and off positions, the valve having annular seal rings at opposite ends in engagement with the bore, and the entirety of the valve being of an injection molded polymeric material wherein the seal rings are of more softer and more compliant material compared to that of the valve material.
A still further object of this invention is to provide such an assembly wherein the coupler for connecting the housing to the liquid carrier source includes an anti-siphon means which permits only one-way flow of carrier liquid in a downstream direction of the housing via through the carrier liquid inlet passage.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparently from the following detailed description of the invention when taken into conjunction with the accompanying drawings.